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Executed with care, killing off a primary player in prime time is good for business. Such hit shows as “The Good Wife,” FX's “Sons of Anarchy” and ABC's “Scandal” have put hits on series co-stars and seen a tangible payoff creatively and to the bottom line. “No doubt a death of one of the main characters in an ensemble cast can get the audience's attention,” says Tim Brooks, co-author of “The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,” and veteran research executive of such networks as NBC, USA and Lifetime. “If handled correctly it's an opportunity to reinvigorate a series and develop new plot lines and relationships in a veteran show.”

It certainly was handled with care on “The Good Wife.” Viewers of the legal drama starring Julianna Margulies were jolted when the romantic male lead Will Gardner was killed in a hail of bullets in a courtroom shooting. After 5 years, Josh Charles, who plays Gardner wanted out, so the producers decided to profit from the loss of a star. In the aftermath of that episode, chatter about his timely demise exploded on social media. The following week “The Good Wife” audience was up 20%, making it the most-watched episode this season. Creatively, the series got a jolt too in the finely-wrought episode the following week, with members of the cast dealing with Gardner's death.

“Son​s ​ of Anarchy” bumped off two of its stars this season, most notably the surprise death of Dr. Tara Knowles-Teller played by Maggie Siff on the December 10th season finale. The ​T​wittersphere went crazy with Tara's demise. How could the show's creator Kurt Sutter kill off such a sympathetic character? She was one of the show's two female leads, and her character was married to Charlie Hunnam, who plays the “Sons” fictional leader Jax Teller. There were twice the number of tweets from the previous week's episode. Similarly, on the November 19th episode of “Sons” when Ron Silver's character, Clay Morrow, is executed after betraying fellow gang members, there w​ere about​ double the tweets from the previous week pumping welcome buzz into the series.

Taking out a star can be dangerous business. “You risk a backlash if you kill off a major player and don't replace the character with someone with the same kind of stature,” says veteran audience research analyst Craig Jaffe. “A show may experience a short term gain, but risk alienating viewers in the long-run.”

The recent murder of the fictional White House press secretary James Novak on “Scandal” caused a lot of buzz on social media too, but ratings in subsequent weeks did not get the typical death bump up in the ratings. Dan Bucatinsky who plays Novak, may have won a 2013 Emmy for Best Outstanding Guest Actor for his reoccurring role, but as Jaffe notes, he was more a “peripheral part of an ensemble cast" than a marquee name.

Part of the uptick in the prime player body count is a result of today's narrowcast environment that allows for broadcast and cable networks to make edgier creative choices. Increasingly, those creating series want the freedom that previously was the province of premium networks like HBO, where powerful producers such as “The Sopranos” creator David and “The Wire's” David Simon killed off compelling cast members at will. Actors on each of those series would often admit they'd read each new script with a sense of dread that they'd be taking a bullet in that week's episode.

This denoted a shift. More often than not, if a popular character died in a series it was because the actor who played the part had unexpectedly passed away. Such was the case in the final season of “The West Wing” when John Spencer who plays White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry had a fatal heart attack. Just last fall, “Glee” dealt with the death of star Cory Monteith, who played Finn on the hit series by giving the character an on-screen memorial.

In part, the willingness to kill off popular characters at will shows the balance of power has shifted r from the producers and writers who create the shows and to? the network executives who pay for them. Traditionally, “the suits” were loathe to let show runners bump-off a popular character, even in such cases as “The Good Wife” where an actor wanted out. Better to have that character take a job in another city and keep the door open for a special guest appearance in an episode down the road.

Television historian Brooks believes the prime time co-star body count will continue to rise because of increasing audience fragmentation, acceptance of edgier fare and the desire by empowered show runners to pull the trigger. Says Brooks, “If the creative side always had their way, stars would be slaughtered all the time.”